Despite controversy over the issue, the Ministry of Health has defended the right of same-sex couples to marry.

Same-sex couples have the right to the pursuit of happiness

In the new draft of the Marriage and Family Law there is a proposed amendment by Nguyen Viet Tien, Deputy Minister of Health that would recognise same-sex couples and allow them to marry.

While the Ministry of Health suggested that the government should allow same-sex marriage, the issue has remained controversial.

"Under Vietnamese law same-sex couples have the right to the pursuit of happiness," said Nguyen Viet Tien, Deputy Minister of Health. This, he emphasised, gives homosexual couples the same rights and protections as those enjoyed by heterosexual couples under the law.

It was only in 1990 that the World Health Organisation took homosexuality off the list of mental health disorders.

Living as a homosexual in Vietnamese society, however, remains another issue. Even though large international organisations have all condoned same-sex marriage, gay and lesbian individuals feel pressure to conform to tradition.

According to a recent survey by the Institute for Studies of Society, Economy and Environment (iSEE), 86% of homosexuals in the country felt that they needed to hide their sexual preferences from their family and friends.

Still, the implications in a change of the law in Vietnam as being defined by relations between a man and a woman remain controversial. Tien added that the current Marriage and Family Law bans same-sex marriage on the grounds that it "does not promote reproduction" and may lead to "social consequences".

He cited a report by the iSEE which indicated that the vast majority of gays and lesbians said they faced negative judgement and felt they had to hide their sexual identity. Some even claimed they lost their jobs because of being homosexual.

The director of iSEE, Dr. Le Quang Binh, said, "After studying the issue for five years I've come to the conclusion that banning same-sex marriage is more harmful to society than recognising it," pointing out the fact that a number of other countries around the world have legitimised either marriage or civil unions between people of the same gender.

Not everybody agrees with this attitude.  Dr. Nguyen Phuong Lan from Hanoi Law University believes that same-sex couples could have a negative effect on people around them, while Trinh Thi Le Cham, member of the Vietnam’s Lawyers’ Association cum director of the Centre for Medical and HIV/AIDS Policies agreed, saying homosexual people have the right to live together but that marriage should be carefully considered.

While more and more Vietnamese citizens have an open mind on the issue, the majority continue to hold the view that the homosexual lifestyle is either unhealthy or immoral. Many families even force their children to undergo psychiatric therapy to "cure" them.

Another iSEE survey showed that 90% of Vietnamese people asked had an open prejudice against homosexuals. Still, 77% of those asked said that there should be protections for this group under the law, and 75% said that homosexual couples should be allowed to adopt children.

But only 36% supported legalising same-sex marriage.

One lesbian student at Thang Long University, commented, “I sincerely hope that marriage is legalised for us. It would ease public pressure and could help people accept relationships like ours. We would like to build happy homes like everyone else."